Spring football is the next step toward the 2025 college football season, as programs around the country will get a glimpse of what is in store for their team next season. With that, programs also have to finalize their coaching staffs to ensure everything is put together before they begin preparing for next year. While moves like Jim Knowles going from Ohio State to Penn State top headlines, there are plenty of under-the-radar moves that could pay dividends for the respective programs.
Looking at the Virginia Tech Hokies, 2024 was a down season given the expectations they entered the year with. Having the most returning starters in the country from 2023 to 2024, there was hope that quarterback Kyron Drones could take his game to the next level after a breakout 2023 campaign. That wasn’t the case, unfortunately, as he saw regression and the team’s top star Antwaun Powell-Ryland is expected to hear his name called in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft.
To improve their defense heading into 2025, after finishing Top 40 nationally in points allowed this past season, the Hokies headed to the NFL to hire Arizona Cardinals linebacker coach Sam Siefkes as their next defensive coordinator.
Siefkes will return to college after spending time with the Minnesota Vikings and the Cardinals, seeing success with linebackers Eric Kendricks, Jordan Hicks, and Kyzir White in the process. Siefkes's last role in college was as the defensive coordinator for Wofford, where he helped lead the conference’s top total and rushing defenses.
Now with Virginia Tech, Siefkes will look to help Brent Pry and the Hokies take that next step as they haven’t won eight games since 2019. With a combination of new transfer portal talent and returning players, Siefkes will have the rest of the offseason to prepare his defense for a season-opening matchup against the South Carolina Gamecocks on August 31st.